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STALKED: Noelle Reno, star of the new TV show; Ladies Of London

5 May 2014

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing an industry sweetheart, with a career CV to beat all CVs!! From her first company
(a babysitting agency, age 10) to her first haunt/adventure as an international
model (Tokyo, age 14) fashion industry insider, expert, entrepreneur and broadcaster
Noelle has built up extensive knowledge and experience within fashion
and media. Noelle founded a diffusion brand with Zandra
Rhodes, OBE, marking the first time the icon designer has taken a
partnership in her 45 year career. Noelle’s success has
allowed her the freedom to pursue passions such as writing, blogging, and public
speaking. She contributes regularly to a variety of publications including Mail
on Sunday, VV, The Gent, acts as the celebrity blogger for Britain’s
leading department store House of Fraser, and speaks publicly for
the likes of the British Fashion Council.

What are you working on now and why do you love what you're doing?

My whole life – from the time I could understand basic things about life – has been about following my dreams. That’s a very difficult path – or at least for me it meant sacrifices, digging deep within yourself a lot, and dealing against high odds. This year, I feel I’m on course with my dream and it’s a deeply satisfying feeling. I get to be creative, be around creatives, and have the nice “wrapping paper” as I call it! Meaning the superficial benefits.

My new TV show, Ladies of London, to air in June, so I’d like to say the highlight of my career is soon to come!

What has been the most significant change in fashion you've noticed in your career?

Online. Its become so democratized. As a girl in rural Seattle (suburb of a metropolitan city in USA) I could never get the information and access to the people or brands I craved. I would of given my right arm to know about what was happening outside my bubble and be able to emulate that in my style and my mission to be in fashion. Instead I travelled to LA frequently in these years as a model for Elite and would shop on Melrose Ave (which I thought was so edgy at the time) and come back to school wearing clothes people had never seen or heard of. Now there is no discovery in person; its all discovered online by anyone who wants.

Why did you decide to start the diffusion range for Zandra Rhodes?

When I sold my first company, I wanted to start a new brand with a base in heritage. I always respected Zandra and saw a space for a proper ‘in-house’ diffusion brand with her name on it. We met, got on, agreed, and Z was birthed.

How would you describe your personal style?

Honestly, I generally don’t give as much of a f*ck as I should. Im very laid back in many ways. If I consciously make a choice, it would be classic with a rock n roll edge. Chanel and Sandro fit me down to a T.

Where
do you shop? And what's your Favourite brand at the moment?

Well,
above is fantastic but versions of it can be found at Topshop. I tend to spend
my money on shoes- and I never, ever buy cheap shoes. I’m like Carrie from Sex
and The City when Miranda asks where all her money has gone and she says she
will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes.

Advice
for any fashion entrepreneurs?

Make
sure you really want to run a business and not just do the creative or
marketing side. Most designers spend 10% of their time designing and 90% running
a company. My head is more business focused so it works. I’m not the most
creative person but I innately know what buyers want which in this day and age
counts as much or more than originality and creativity.

I am very excited to be one of the stars of Ladies of London, a new franchise for the Bravo Network produced by BBC World. We premier on June 2nd but promotional ads have started already and a 30 min special will start airing continuously on Bravo in May. It will be coming to a UK network soon.

The docu-series takes you inside the glittering, class-conscious city of London. It follows a group of elite British socialites and American expats (Annabelle Neilson and Caroline Stanbury along with Americans Juliet Angus, Caprice Bourret, Marissa Hermer and Noelle Reno) enjoying the upper crust of the high-society world.

It was a grueling summer filming and I learned so much about myself. I’m excited for people to see the real me as opposed to what maybe misunderstood in the press. I am still scared and excited in equal measure of the results. I go through a lot of personal struggles on the show, especially as I’m the only one that doesn’t come from money or is married to a rich man (apart from Caprice).